Functional assembly of nitrous oxide reductase provides insights into copper site maturation Lin Zhanga, Anja Wüsta, Benedikt Prassera, Christoph Müllera, and Oliver Einslea,b,1 aInstitut für Biochemie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; and bBIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, 79104 Freiburg, Germany Edited by Robert Huber, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany, and approved May 22, 2019 (received for review March 5, 2019) The multicopper enzyme nitrous oxide reductase reduces the to yield a [4Cu:S] form termed CuZ* (11). Beside its two copper 2+ + − greenhouse gas N2O to uncritical N2 as the final step of bacterial centers, NosZ also binds one ion each of Ca ,K ,andCl per denitrification. Its two metal centers require an elaborate assem- monomer (4, 12). Currently, NosZ is the only known enzyme able bly machinery that so far has precluded heterologous production to activate inert nitrous oxide. Its reaction mechanism involves as a prerequisite for bioremediatory applications in agriculture both metal sites but remains to be fully elucidated. In the P. and wastewater treatment. Here, we report on the production stutzeri genome, the gene nosZ forms part of the nos gene cluster of active holoenzyme in Escherichia coli using a two-plasmid sys- (nosRZDFYL)(Fig.1A), where the preceding NosR is a polytopic tem to produce the entire biosynthetic machinery as well as the membrane protein that serves as electron donor for N2Ore- structural gene for the enzyme. Using this recombinant system to duction (13). Its periplasmic, N-terminal FMN-binding domain probe the role of individual maturation factors, we find that the requires covalent flavinylation by an ApbE family protein forming ABC transporter NosFY and the accessory NosD protein are essen- part of the gene cluster as nosX in some organisms (14), while a C- tial for the formation of the [4Cu:2S] site CuZ, but not the electron terminal ferredoxin-like domain with two [4Fe:4S] clusters resides transfer site CuA. Depending on source organism, the heterolo- in the cytoplasm (5). The following ORFs, nosDFY,encodean E. coli gous host can, in some cases, compensate for the lack of ABC transporter (NosFY) and a periplasmic interacting protein, the Cu chaperone NosL, while in others this protein is strictly re- NosD, presumably required to shuttle a sulfur species to the peri- quired, underlining the case for designing a recombinant system plasm for Cu assembly (5, 15). NosL is a membrane-anchored Z BIOCHEMISTRY + to be entirely self-contained. copper chaperone that binds Cu1 for delivery to apo-NosZ (Fig. 1B) (16, 17). nitrous oxide reductase | denitrification | enzyme refactoring | cofactor Incomplete denitrification terminating with release of N2Oisa biogenesis | structural biology major contributor to the detrimental environmental effects of ex- cessive fertilizer use, and consequently the application of recombi- itrous oxide (N O, “laughing gas”) is a potent greenhouse 2 nant N2O reductase (rNosZ) in a suitable host is of major interest gas whose 100-y global warming potential exceeds the one N for bioremediatory applications. Besides current N2O mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO2) by a factor of 300 (1). Its atmospheric strategies based on soil chemistry and plant community technologies ∼ concentration increased by 20% since preindustrial times and (2), emerging approaches aim at harnessing protein chemistry and – −1 is still growing at a rate of 0.2 0.3% y (1, 2). This led to its microbiome biotechnology (18). A prerequisite for such strategies is designation as the most significant ozone-depleting substance of the availability of a recombinant, synthetically refactored enzyme the 21st century, which it is expected to remain unless its emis- sions are put under tight regulation (3). More than two-thirds of Significance N2O emissions originate from the by-products of bacterial and fungal soil nitrification and denitrification that are strongly en- hanced by excessive fertilization in modern agriculture (1, 4). Due to the steady increase of its atmospheric concentration, nitrous oxide (N2O) is among the most environmentally critical Although N2O reduction is thermodynamically favored (N2O + + − 0 −1 emissions of our time. It is generated both by abiotic and an- 2H + 2e → N2 + H2O; ΔG ′ = −339.5 kJ·mol ), its activation − energy barrier of 250 kJ·mol 1 leads to substantial kinetic sta- thropogenic processes, but due to its chemical stability, nature has evolved only a single enzyme able to reduce the gas to bility and chemical inertness (4, 5). Accordingly, the biological uncritical N . This nitrous oxide reductase bears a high bio- reduction of N O that completes denitrification is catalyzed by a 2 2 technological potential, but the complexity of the maturation specialized enzyme, nitrous oxide reductase (NosZ, the product pathways of its copper centers and its overall sensitivity have of the nosZ gene), a periplasmic, homodimeric metalloprotein of so far prevented its application. This work shows the recombi- 130 kDa that contains two copper centers, Cu and Cu , in each A Z nant production of N O reductase in active and intact form in monomer (6). It forms a tight head-to-tail dimer in which the 2 Escherichia coli, its structural and spectroscopic characterization, CuA site of one monomer is in close proximity of about 10 Å to and an initial application for elucidating details of cofactor the CuZ site of the other, creating the composite active site of the assembly. enzyme at each dimer interface (4). CuA is a binuclear mixed- 1.5+ 1.5+ valent [Cu :Cu ] site with two cysteines, two histidines, one Author contributions: L.Z. and O.E. designed research; L.Z., A.W., B.P., and C.M. per- methionine, and one tryptophan as ligands, able to accept and formed research; L.Z., A.W., B.P., C.M., and O.E. analyzed data; and L.Z. and O.E. wrote the paper. transfer a single electron (7), and CuZ is a tetranuclear [4Cu:2S] cluster coordinated by a unique, asymmetric histidine heptad The authors declare no conflict of interest. that binds and activates N2O during catalysis (4). Initial 3D This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. structures of NosZ from Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus (8), Published under the PNAS license. Paracoccus denitrificans Achromobacter cycloclastes (9), and (10) Data deposition: The data reported in this paper have been deposited in the Protein Data 4 consistently contained CuZ as a [4Cu:μ -S] center, i.e., four Cu Bank, https://www.rcsb.org [ID codes 6RL0 (form I rNosZ) and 6RKZ (form II rNosZ)]. ions with a central, interstitial sulfide, while in Pseudomonas 1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: [email protected]. stutzeri ZoBell, the tetranuclear cluster contained an additional This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. sulfide, revealing the complete, native [4Cu:2S] configuration 1073/pnas.1903819116/-/DCSupplemental. (4). This form, CuZ, is readily desulfurylated during protein isolation www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1903819116 PNAS Latest Articles | 1of6 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 SdNosZ isolated from E. coli previously (12, 22), providing further evidence that the tight dimer formation of NosZ precedes copper site maturation and likely also the Tat-dependent export to the periplasm. Oxic isolation yielded recombinant rNosZ of blue color, with an electron excitation spectrum indicative of partial oxidation of both CuA and CuZ (Fig. 2 A, blue). The exact redox state of the protein as isolated varied between preparations and was dependent on the temperature and duration of the isolation procedure. Complete oxidation with potassium ferricyanide led to a color change to purple, with absorption maxima at 538 nm and 780 nm and a shoulder at 485 nm (Fig. 2 A, purple), the defining spectral features of form I N2O reductase, with CuZ as a [4Cu:2S] cluster (4, 5, 11). From here, the addition of ascorbate resulted in the exclusive reduction of CuA, retaining a CuZ spectrum with two distinct bands at 562 nm and 625 nm (Fig. 2B), and further re- duction with dithionite depleted the transition at 562 nm, leading to a single charge transfer peak at 650 nm assigned to the + 2+ [3Cu :1Cu ] state of CuZ. This transition was direct, as evidenced by an isosbestic point at 615 nm (Fig. 2C) (11). The 7-line hyperfine pattern of the X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) + + spectrum (Fig. 2D) confirmed the mixed-valent [Cu1.5 :Cu1.5 ] state of oxidized CuA (7, 11). These are the exact spectral features definingthenativeformIoftheenzyme(5,23).Themolarex- −1 −1 tinction coefficient e538 nm of 5 mM ·cm was only the half of the Fig. 1. The nos cluster of P. stutzeri and its refactoring for recombinant one reported for anoxically isolated PsNosZ (4). Nevertheless, production in E. coli.(A)Inthenos cluster of P. stutzeri ZoBell, nosR encodes anoxic isolation of rNosZ from E. coli yielded a similar e538 nm of an integral membrane protein required for electron delivery and function, − − 6mM1·cm 1 (SI Appendix, Fig. S2). Consequently, and in line nosZ is the structural gene for N2O reductase. The ABC transporter complex NosDFY is required for sulfur delivery and NosL is a copper chaperone, and with the 3D structure, the recombinant enzyme does not contain a the tatE gene supports Tat-dependent export of apo-NosZ. (B) The protein full complement of copper, but this partial depletion cannot be products of the nos cluster comprise a functional system arranges around the traced back to a difference between oxic and anoxic handling. We cytoplasmic membrane, with N2O reductase located in the periplasm. In then determined the N2O-reducing activity of the oxically isolated addition to the genes encoded in the cluster, the maturation of NosR ad- rNosZ using reduced benzyl viologen as an electron donor (Fig.